If there is one issue that concerns residents the most in Sussex County it is the rapid growth of development. As voters go to the polls issues like land use, transportation and housing have taken center stage in this bastion of conservative politics. Delmarva Public Media's Kevin Diaz has this look as election day approaches.
Sussex County has long reflected the conservative politics of Maryland’s Eastern Shore. But that could change as Delaware’s southernmost county also has experienced explosive growth in the past decade, especially around the coastal areas of Lewes and Rehoboth Beach.
As Democrats seek to make inroads, land use and development are central points of contention. But the issue doesn’t always follow partisan lines.
More than 40,000 people have moved into Sussex County in the past 10 years, with new housing developments and shopping centers seemingly popping up everywhere. This has become a major issue, especially with the county council, which holds sway over most major development projects.
The predominantly Republican council has faced increasing pressure to get growth under control. And this year, in a pair of closely watched races, Democratic challengers Justine Cuccia and Jill Hicks are on the ballot focusing on land use and smart growth.
“It's gotten to a head with people being very upset about the rate of development and the lack of infrastructure” said Del. Claire Snyder-Hall, Democrat representing the liberal bastions of Dewey and Rehoboth Beach in the Delaware House. “Those folks are creating a lot of change at the county council level. We had an all-Republican county council, and now we have one Democrat, [and] we might get two more, probably one more, but maybe two more. And so that concern for overdevelopment is causing them to push back on the Republicans who have traditionally had a stronghold on county council.”
But managing the county’s enormous growth isn’t only playing out at the county council. It’s become a major focus in a highly contested Delaware House seat which includes Milton, Georgetown and Lewes.
The incumbent is Democrat Alonna Berry, who narrowly won a special election last year by about 120 votes. The Republican challenger is Gene Dvornick, a fire chief and Georgetown town manager. A central divide is Berry’s support for a controversial state law known as Senate Bill 23, or just SB23. It aims to increase affordable housing, in some cases by foregoing public hearings for development projects.
Berry called the lack of affordable housing in the region a “crisis” at a recent candidate forum.
Dvornick called the new housing law a poorly thought-out, “one-size-fits-all” unfunded mandate from Dover.
As things stand, Berry’s is one of only two out 10 House districts in Sussex County currently represented by Democrats. Some analysts rate it as a tossup.
Another Delaware race that has attracted attention is an open House seat in southern Sussex County, including Dagsboro, Frankford and Millsboro. District 41 pits former state lawmaker John Atkins, a Republican, against Democrat Ryan Stuckey, a coffee shop owner and Dagsboro planning commissioner. The district has a strong Republican lean, but Republican John Atkins has had to live down a history of police encounters for drunk driving and domestic assault.
Still, sprawl remains the central concern in Sussex County this election, even if it is not entirely a partisan issue. Everybody hates sprawl and the loss of forests and farmland. The differences are about how to manage or slow it down. And part of the debate has focused on SB 23, or Senate Bill 23.
But even there, views in Sussex County have defied party lines, particularly as to the provisions skipping public hearings, where residents can be heard by the county council.
“That has generated a great deal of pushback from both Republicans and Democrats,” said Joe Pika, a retired University of Delaware political scientist. “The Republicans are making it an issue about local control. Democrats are making it an issue about public participation and the opportunity to be heard. There are other Democrats who are very strongly in favor of the bill because of the affordable housing parts of it. So it has been an issue that cuts across party identification, but for different reasons.”
Whatever the reasons, Sussex County’s future growth and character will be charted in this pivotal 2026 election.
